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Conor Gillaspie is off the disabled list and back with the White Sox for tonight’s interleague game against the Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field.
Marcus Semien, however, gets the start at third base for the Sox vs. Cubs lefty Travis Wood.
With Gillaspie (sore left hand) coming back from a rehab assignment at Class AAA Charlotte, Semien could have been sent to the minor leagues to clear a spot on the 25-man roster.
Instead, outfielder Jordan Danks headed back to Charlotte.
Semien doesn’t have a great batting average at .213, but all 3 of his home runs have put the Sox ahead in the seventh inning or later and he also hit the game-winning double in the 12th inning against the Cubs Monday night at Wrigley Field.

While we await Cubs-White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, we have news that lefty Chris Rusin tossed a no-hitter for Class AAA Iowa this afternoon. The I-Cubs beat New Orleans 3-0 on the road, as Rusin worked 9 innings, giving up 2 walks while striking out three. He threw 118 pitches in running his record to 2-4 with a 3.58 ERA.

Rusin, who has seen major-league time the past few seasons, was up with the Cubs on April 12, and he pitched 5 innings in relief of Carlos Villanueva in a 10-4 loss at St. Louis. Rusin gave up 3 hits and 1 run that day, but more important, he saved the bullpen.

Today’s no-hitter was the first for an Iowa pitcher since Reggie Patterson in 1984.

As he dressed for his final game at Wrigley Field Tuesday afternoon – assuming the White Sox and Cubs don’t meet up in the World Series (wink, wink) – Paul Konerko joked about taking something from his tiny locker in the cramped visitor’s clubhouse as a keepsake.
Retiring at the end of the season after 17 years in the major leagues, 16 with the Sox, Konerko is going to be honored by the rival Cubs before tonight’s game and he’ll receive a proper parting gift.
“That’s the word on the street,” Konerko said.
It’s a classy move by the Cubs.

Jose Abreu, Jose Abreu, Jose Abreu.
The White Sox' new first baseman seems to be in the headlines every day, and Monday is no different.
Before the Sox took the field against the Cubs at chilly Wrigley Field tonight, Abreu was back in the record books.
Abreu is the first player in American League history - and second overall - to be named Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month in his first month in the major leagues.
Last year, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig claimed double honors in June.
Abreu batted .270 with 10 home runs, 32 RBI and 20 runs scored in 29 April games.

It’s Cubs-White Sox week in Chicago. With the Blackhawks going full tilt in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and neither the Cubs nor the lighting it up, the atmosphere seems pretty subdued for the intra-city baseball series. As far as the Cubs go, manager Rick Renteria said reliever Hector Rondon is not available tonight after working in four straight games over the past five days.

Rondon suffered the defeat in last night’s 5-4 loss to the Cardinals. He threw 28 pitches, giving up 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 walks while striking out two.

The second round of the NBA playoffs begins tonight – without the Bulls, obviously.

The first game to tip off is Washington at Indiana. Based on the teams’ performance in the first round, this looks like a great opportunity for the Wizards to reach the conference finals.

As the Bulls know very well, John Wall and Bradley Beal are the NBA’s best young backcourt. Maybe they’re due for a slump after playing so well in Round 1, but it seems as though both players are rising to the occasion of their first trip to the playoffs. They should be able to outplay Indiana’s George Hill and Lance Stephenson.

As expected, the Cubs made some roster moves this morning. They placed outfielder Ryan Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Sweeney injured himself making a running catch in Friday’s game against the Cardinals. To replace him in the outfield, the Cubs selected the contract of Chris Coghlan from Class AAA Iowa.

They also activated pitcher Jake Arrieta from the disabled list to start against the Cardinals’ Michael Wacha in today’s 12:05 p.m. game. The Cubs also optioned left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup to Iowa and transferred injured reliever Kyuji Fujikawa from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. That move is procedural as the Cubs had to make room on the 40-man roster for Coghlan.

It’s the second of May, but the Cubs will be playing their first game of the new month after going 9-17 in April, or 1 game worse than last season. They’ll send lefty Travis Wood to the mound this afternoon against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, who is 5-1 with a 1.20 ERA.

MILWAUKEE – It looks more like a day better suited for Bears-Packers than Cubs-Brewers, but as long as we’ve got a roof and the grass has some sunlamps, we’re OK for baseball at Miller Park. Outside, it’s cloudy and in the 40s, but that retractable roof will be closed.

The Cubs woke up this morning already 10.5 games behind the first-place Brewers in the NL Central standings, and we’ve still got a few days before we hit May.